Saudis to pump oil faster

The world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia will boost output next month to the fastest rate in decades to help keep pace with demand and tame what it sees as unacceptably high fuel prices.

Riyadh plans to lift output to 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd) in July, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said yesterday after meeting Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi.

That would be a rise of 550,000 bpd or over six per cent since May and would take Saudi crude output to its highest monthly rate since August 1981, according to US Energy Information Administration data.

"9.7, that is what he (Mr Naimi) said," on July output, the Abu Dhabi-based The National newspaper quoted the UN Secretary General as saying on its website.

The Saudi output plan comes to light a week before the kingdom hosts an unprecedented meeting of producers and consumers to tackle market instability.

A relentless rise in oil prices to well above $130 a barrel has sparked fuel protests from Asia to Europe and roiled financial markets as policymakers fear higher inflation will slow the global economy.